Do we need all that extra padding? - Less is More

Posted by admin on 12 February, 2019

With the trend for top professional riders using pads continuing to grow and ahead of our sponsorship for Stepping Stones Eventing League 2019at Wexford Equestrian Centre, Wexford, Ireland this spring, our Senior Saddle Technician, Tricia Bracegirdlelooks at the pros and pitfalls of using a gel pad or sheepskin pad under your saddle…

“It seems increasingly common these days that riders feel conditioned to put something extra under their saddles and very often when I turn up to do a saddle fitting I will ask why they are using one and the answers range from:

To protect the horses back: Concussion/absorb impact

To pad out a saddle that’s too big?

Saddle fitter told me to

Horse has lumps on its back

Saddle is not stable, too wide, too tight

Through to quite simply

‘It looks nice’!!

All mostly very valid points but we must remember it can have a huge effect on the fit of the saddle.

For example, on a narrow TB type it can make gullet much narrower and tight on the wither. So the original problem of saddle touching the wither has been swapped for saddle tight on the trapezius!

On a horse with a big shoulder with or without wither it can cause bridging and make saddle tight on the shoulder. Putting a thick pad can also increase the movement of the saddle and even change the balance of the saddle, either by lifting at the front through the shoulder or through the back, if the saddle is sitting on the thick edge.

Make sure the pad is long enough for your saddle and is in good condition.

The wrong choice of pad can also reduce space through the gullet and restrict movement of the spine when the horse is working through. Especially a problem if horse is tense /hollows – made even worse when the girth is done up tightly to try to stop it moving back. The saddle will always try to move to where there is space. A horse cannot make a shape over his back if the saddle is jammed on it!

Make sure there is sufficient space in the middle of the pad. Some pads are very thick and quite hard and take most of the gullet space.

Young horses need their rider to sit still – they have to watch their own balance – they don’t need the added pressure of worrying about their rider too!! Is your pad is reducing stability? Also, adding fluff on to the girth may exacerbate this even more. We need to put some thought into the equipment we use and why we use it!

So in what circumstances can using a thicker pad help?

They can help improve comfort especially if flocking has gone hard, but balance is still good and the general fit of the saddle is not compromised. They can also add good shock absorption for horses competing at high level in jump or dressage but arguably if the saddle fits the horse correctly they should not be a necessity.

To conclude it’s fair to say that they certainly have positive benefits when riding for long period of time: i.e.: hunting, endurance and pleasure rides and when impact on the horse’s back can compromise comfort. However, if it’s more than a temporary measure or you just like the look of wearing a sheepskin pad, then it’s imperative you discuss this with your saddler to ensure that the saddle can accommodate it and to also determine that if your saddle is unstable without the fluffy pad is it solving it or hiding the problem!”

The balance of this saddle is shown with the red line – it is level and has good clearance and contact in all the right places.

Here you can see at point ‘1’ the saddle is not as level as it was – it has been lifted at the front. Not a massive problem in this case but what you can't see is that at point ‘2’ there is no contact between the saddle and the horses back and that at point ‘3’ the shoulder is now tight – this is what causes the ‘bridge’ at ‘3’.

Many thanks to Stephen Rankin and Gubeon Equestrian for use of their horse for this feature.